Browse People:

Browse Lists:

Williams, Hartley Eyre (1871–1933)

The death of Hartley Eyre Williams re moves one who, in the days of the gold boom, was a prominent mining lawyer on the fields and who; later, filled in a good many years as proof-reader on 'The Daily News.' A capable craftsman and a kindly soul he was known to his familiars as 'Anyhow,' because of his philosophic use of the word in summing up disconcerting problems. He was the eldest son of the late Sir Hartley Williams, a distinguished Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria many years ago, and his death recalls the fact that Sir Hartley (then Mr. Justice Williams), although senior Justice of the Supreme Court Bench, was passed over when the post of Chief Justice became vacant and Sir John Madden was taken from the Bar and elevated to the position which not only made him head of the Bench, but also Lieutenant-Governor of the State. Mr. Justice Williams was knighted, but he never forgave the slight of his rejection for the highest judicial honors and he promptly retired on the pension, to which he was entitled, and went to live in Lon don. He enjoyed a very long life and the sum of the pension he drew from Victoria ran into very many thousands of pounds.